1998 Rover - Austin 600 Ti from UK and Ireland - Comments

21st Jul 2001, 11:04

It could be two things.

One it is the clutch; it is about to go. It is a rasping rattling buzz when you depress the clutch, then you will be needing a new clutch soon. I have heard of them going at as little as 57k, mine went at 70k.

Secondly the bearings could soon be joining the big pile of Rover scrap metal in the sky. They can't quite handle 200bhp (well done Rover) and die with alarming regularity. If it is wooshing when in gear and rattling then this could well be the problem.

And a tip: NEVER take your car to a Rover dealer; they are useless, the parts are a phenomenal rip off and they charge £65-£80 per hour just to poke your car with an oily stick and give it you back still broken.

12th Oct 2001, 14:53

The gear stick buzzing is nothing more (normally) than the linkage becoming stiff and transferring the normal vibrations from the gearbox into the car. If it is put on a ramp and apply a little WD40 to the linkage, the buzzing will stop.

27th Nov 2001, 11:00

11th Jul 2002, 06:46

I think the comment about the linkage to the gearbox is correct - mine buzzed for the first few thousand miles of use, but went all quite when it developed an oil leak - this I now suspect lubricated the linkage!

13th Sep 2002, 19:45

I've had my Ti for about 4 years and very little has gone wrong apart from the buzzing from the gear stick. This is a common problem and is related to the gearbox linkages and bushes. They should be lubricated with a waterproof grease at every 36,000 mile intervals. (Rover dealers please take note!!) I've not had any recurrences and enjoy the comparative quietness of the Ti's road noise.

29th Apr 2003, 12:15

I've had the gear lever buzzing in both the Tis I've had. I'll give that linkage lubrication thing a go.

Also I get a clunking sound sometimes when braking. It sounds just like there's something sliding around under the bonnet. Worse when wet, strangely enough. I've had it back to the dealer, but they can't find anything.

5th Jun 2003, 15:07

I drive many, many thousands of miles per year and have driven most makes of high-powered sports cars and performance executive cars from the top-name companies. The Mercedes are good, as are the top Jaguars, and a few BMW's, but so are their price tags. That is why I own a Rover 620Ti - probably the best high performance low-priced car available on the secondhand market. A smooth and comfortable executive car that quickly transforms into a true performance sports car when driven safely at high speeds. A Porsche has problems keeping up with a Rover 620Ti when driven at top speeds! I've driven all across Europe many times in this car (in fact, I've just covered 2,500 high-speed miles across France and Italy during the past 3-weeks and the only thing I the car asked for was to top-up the oil level once during the entire trip).

One thing I try to steer clear of is a Rover dealer... absolute sharks! The prices are crazy and most Rover dealers give crazy esitimates for simple jobs. I was quoted £1,000 to fix an engine problem which another garage fixed with a few squeezes of WD40! Another garage quoted £150-£200 to replace two bolts that came loose (..."need to remove many parts of the engine, plus radiator etc to get at it, and replace gasket etc, may even need to get in a specialist if some of the bolts are left inside..." he said, scratching his oily hand on his bald forhead...).

A screwdriver inserted into the wholes where the bolts had been told me that the bolts had become loose and not broken off, so I bought two new bolts for 60 pence each, and then just screwed them in... The engine purrs like a cat and I've saved yet more money from the Rover sharks...

A truly enjoyable car to drive, and one which very few cars can keep up with. I love it!

9th Sep 2003, 03:45

I have a gearbox problem with a '98 Rover 414i with 46K on clock. The car has always been well maintained.

Reverse gear is intermittently difficult to engage.

Although the gear lever slips into correct channel, it doesn't fully go into gear even after numerous attempts. If I depress/press the clutch it will go into gear. This becomes a bit tedious after a while!

A lot more pressure is required to change gear in the 414 in comparison to a 214 which I owned previously. Is this normal?

I checked the gearbox oil level to find it needed approximately 0.75l of oil. I also checked the condition of the two linkage rods i.e. from gear stick to gearbox. Still no improvement.

Is there any adjustment of any of the gear linkage rods? Surely the gear box is not worn out after 46,000 miles of moderate driving?

13th Oct 2007, 14:41

Oh yes, definitely get a T5 (850 presumably?), then you too can enjoy 16/17mpg!! That's around town, truly shocking compared to the 28mpg I get from my ti! My mate has an 850 T5, really nice car, well equipped, but I couldn't live with that sort of gluttony!

620 ti, a capable, decent car often bad mouthed by people who just experienced one unloved/abused example, or more likely haven't even driven one!